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I thought a nice way to round off an unusually dry weekend would be to take the Maestro out for a quick run on some of the quiet, unclassified roads near my home while there was still about an hour of useful light to play with. The test route I normally use takes about 35 minutes and it’s a good mixture of tight, narrow corners and fast, straight sections of national speed limit. It’s slightly challenging in an older car you don’t drive every day but often rewarding all the same. Despite not having been out for several weeks the car took it all in its stride, but not without reminding me it really needs a steering & suspension overhaul at the first opportunity. The front end clunks and groans are getting quite unnerving.

While I was at the side of the road taking the picture above an oncoming Alfa 33 stopped dead, turned around and pulled in behind. It turned out the driver was an ex-Maestro 1.3 owner, taking his Alfa out for a quick run after completing some work. We spent about five minutes chatting about the ins and outs of both cars before going our separate ways.

This kind of exchange is becoming more the routine now, whether I’m stopped at a filling station or just trying to buy a tax disc at the post office counter. It usually begins with “I haven’t seen one of those for years!” and continues with fond reminiscences of a past Maestro experience.

A couple of years ago nobody turned a blind eye. Maestro drivers were public enemy number one. If you dared venture onto the roads in one it seemed to spark aggression in even the most passive of drivers. Admitting to owning one was akin to admitting a drug habit.

Has anyone else noticed this change lately? To me it’s one of the little things that sets a classic apart from a banger.